Gas prices surge 12 cents in week

After several weeks of relatively small declines, gas prices locally and nationwide swung upward this week with a vengeance.

On Long Island, gas prices averaged $3.84 per gallon as of Monday morning, up 12.2 cents from the same day one week ago, and up 10.2 cents from this day one month ago.

Similarly, gas prices across the nation rose an average of 12 cents per gallon in the last week to average $3.62 per gallon, and now sit 0.7 cents per gallon higher than they were one month ago, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

“Nationally, gasoline prices have begun moving upward yet again,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com. “I suspect that the unrest in Egypt is playing a significant role in pushing crude values higher, and thus retail gasoline prices higher as well. The market is seemingly quite sensitive to the situation in Egypt as the Energy Information Administration has reported two consecutive weeks of large declines in crude oil inventories, drawing concern that a loss in Middle Eastern crude would mean continued declines in inventories stateside.”

While the 12-cent increase on Long Island was bad, other areas of the country got hit much worse. Parts of Michigan saw 30-cent average increases in the price of fuel, while many Ohio drivers were hit with a 28-cent average increase.

On Long Island, the Getty station on the Poospatuck Native American Reservation in Mastic was selling fuel for $3.60 per gallon as of Monday morning – the lowest price in the region. Similarly, the BP station on Atlantic Avenue in Baldwin Harbor and the Sunoco station on Peninsula Boulevard in Hempstead were selling gas for almost as cheap at $3.65 per gallon.